Metrophanes: Burdens

Chapter 2: VS Kazuko

Sep 05, 2024

Welcome to Battles Beneath the Stars, a webserial styled like the guide and script of a non existent fighting game. If you’re new to this story, be sure to start at the prologue, from there each character’s story branches into its own version of events, so you won’t need to read anyone else’s story to follow this one.

Last chapter was the first chapter of Metrophanes’s story, setting up basics like the presence of his grandson and that the audience hates him. Now it’s time for some clarity on grudges and family relationships. My personal life has calmed down to a more conductive state for writing, so I’m feeling renewed confidence in this and the next chapter.

Open on Grand Festival Hub

Metrophanes, Vulture Shah, Hyperion, and Drakon are standing together.

Hyperion: Are you sure you’re okay?

Metrophanes: I knew the crowd wouldn’t want me winning. And I’m prepared to hear their booing again. You won’t need to ask when it happens again.

Drakon: It’s not fair that everyone else gets cheering when they win. Isn’t Quiahuitl evil? People were cheering for her.

Metrophanes: She…probably is, but don’t go around repeating that. Or any new word you hear people use to describe her or me.

Metrophanes raises his staff.

Vulture Shah: And don’t get into any fights.

Drakon: I know. It’s everyone else who wants to get into fights.

Hyperion: He’s right. There’s something infectious about the anger of crowds here, and every other emotion. I’m intimidated by it honestly, even if nothing has come of it yet. Hákon says it feels a bit more extreme than usual too.

Metrophanes: Maybe it’d be better if you weren’t among the audience then. Though now that you mention him, if I win this next round, I’ll be facing Hákon.

Metrophanes: Defeating someone like him would be a feat that commands respect. Nisha may be a dragon, but she was barely trying. Hákon on the other hand, an experienced warrior with the overwhelming power of a dragon, that’d do it.

Hyperion: I guess it would.

Drakon: And I’ll be there to watch it.

Metrophanes: As long as you stay safe.

Metrophanes walks away.

Exploration Start

Now that you’ve had your first battle you should have a better idea of what you need to work on. Take the time to practice anything that felt hard to pull off before the next match. And while you do be sure to eavesdrop on NPCs. Keep going to the right when you’re ready to move on.

Booing Enthusiast: I hope that Metrophanes makes it further. Booing someone is vastly more fun than cheering for them.

Patriotic Hákon Fan: Hákon’s going to take down all those foreigners who look down on us and win, as he deserves. It’d be fitting if he defeated that traitor shaman, assuming that guy makes it past this round.

Normal Arena Fan: You know this tournament has already been fun to watch, but some people seem to take it too seriously. I’ve seen battles to the death treated more calmly.

Exploration End

Kazuko is standing at the center of the screen, Metrophanes walks towards her.

Kazuko: Oh, hello.

Kazuko: Before we go into the arena, I want to ask you something. Why do people hate you so much? What happened? Last round people seemed really angry that you won.

Metrophanes: …During a war with another city, I betrayed my people for the enemy, so that I could seize the throne for myself. I felt that the shah had lost touch with his responsibilities and needed to be replaced.

Metrophanes: But I failed. So I found myself wandering the desert, vainly attempting to scheme my way into power wherever I could find it.

Metrophanes: Eventually a student of mine tracked me down with Hyperion’s help, and the confrontation made me realize how much I had lost sight of. I forgot my own responsibilities. Now I’m content with a quiet life in a village, even if I’m hated elsewhere.

Kazuko: But why come here then?

Metrophanes: That student of mine is an orphan, in many ways like a daughter to me, to the point of her son addressing me as grandfather. My reputation will impact them well after my death. So I refuse to let it remain like this.

Kazuko: There’s a lot about this I don’t really understand, but I think I get what’s important. But I also need to win…

Metrophanes: Winning through pity wouldn’t help me. When we enter the arena you should fight me with all of your strength.

Kazuko and Metrophanes walk off-screen.

Transition to Ringed River

In the background, a dormant volcano towers over the landscape. The whole land looks dark and fertile.

The fighters ride a long flat boat on the river that’s the namesake of the stage. As that name implies, the river goes in a ring around the volcano Mount Pheona, which stands tall in the background.

Metrophanes and Kazuko stand at an equal distance on the boat.

Battle Start

Kazuko is another technical character who likes to stay at a distance, but her traps are much more literal. If you give her the space she will set up a trap that when walked into deals poison damage, though it doesn’t stun you. Vulture Shah can safely disable it and is immune to it.

And her hunting boomerang projectile doesn’t fly back to her automatically, rather it lies on the ground and when Kazuko pulls on the string it comes to her and trips you up, though that attack can be blocked. The boomerang can also harass you just as a quick projectile.

Since the stage is on a boat it’s constantly moving to the right, keep that in mind when you jump. And at times it will go under a bridge that you have to jump over, which can disrupt your meditation move and other careful positioning of Vulture Shah.

Where you want to be is fairly close to Kazuko, since her traps take time to set up that you can deny her with consistent aggression. But she’s not helpless at close range. It’s likely you’ll take turns knocking each other down and then taking time to set up your tricks.

Keep an eye out for traps and hazards and you’ll be sure to win this round.

Battle End

Metrophanes and Kazuko are back at round start positions.

Metrophanes: (A river and a mountain housing a city inside, for a distant land it’s a lot like Gaiapolis. How long has it been since I saw it for myself?)

Speech bubbles of people booing appear all over the screen.

Metrophanes: (About what I expected. A promising young girl against an evil old traitor, it’s obvious who should have won in their eyes.)

Kazuko: Are you okay?

Metrophanes: I’ve accepted this. I simply need to keep winning.

Metrophanes turns around.

Metrophanes: (I’ll need every trick I have for next round. If I can win against Hákon it won’t matter if I’m too ragged to get any further.)

Chapter END

Closing Note from the Author: Originally I was going to have a bit where Drakon called Quiahuitl ‘an evil whore’ and both Metrophanes and Hyperion knew exactly who Drakon was repeating, but it required going too deep in the extended web of relationships in this story and examining how close they really are.

Be sure to tune in the week after next for Metrophanes vs Hákon, where Metrophanes goes all out trying to secure victory and another Mondragean fighter makes an appearance.

The Warthog Report

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